This 2 CD set contains a fair representation of almost all of the Tangerine Dream albums recorded in the period 1973 to 1983 (the only ones missing are "Sorcerer", "Pergamon" and "Cyclone"). While it is not always the best track from each album that makes it into this set, and some are presented in bleeding chunk form only, these discs do give the listener a good overview of each album, making this a good sampler set from which to set out on an exploration of the music of Tangerine Dream's so-called Virgin Years. I don't usually approve of 'best of' collections, and usually rate them accordingly, but I'm prepared to make an exception in this case because of its completeness, variety of programming and the great value for money that this release represents. This release will be of little interest to established collectors of TD's music of this period but beginners could do a lot worse than start here.

Originally issued in '85 as a triple album, this essential and ultimate Tangerine Dream collection fits nicely onto 2 CDs. This collection was issued shortly after TD enjoyed true broad commercial success for the last time with the soundtrack for the movie "Risky Business" (starting and ending the compilation on tracks 1 and 19). All other tracks inbetween are the highlights of the Virgin Records era of TD (thankfully leaving out pre-1973 near-unlistenable experiments like Zeit and Alpha), starting with excerpts (too short, in my opinion) of Phaedra and Rubycon. The tracks move along pretty much chronologically, ending with White Eagle from 1982. The set includes 2 side-long tracks, Ricochet Part II and Tangram Part I. The Ricochet track shows TD at its peak, a 20 minute long whaling and pulsing of out-of-control deep space synthesizers and soaring guitar solos. Ricochet stems from '75 but hasn't aged a day. And to think that the Ricochet and Tangram albums actually made serious dents in the UK album charts in the mid-70s! Those were the days! (Can anyone spell teen pop? ) If you're gonna to buy just one Tangerine Dream CD, there is no doubt this is the one . . .

They were spacy, new agey and electronically ambient long before 808:State, Devo, Hawkwind, Kraftwerk or William Orbit but this 2 CD career retrospective of Berlin's prolific Tangerine Dream is perfectly timed. In that 30 years, the Dream have had the greatest impact on the widest variety of music, most notably in the sample-happy ambient and new age electronica scene of the `90s. Though the band went through three dozen different lineups and four distinct stages of development, the experimental and minimalist period of the late `60s and early `70s is given short thrift here chiefly because they didn't sign with Virgin until mid' 70s. Fortunately, most of these instrumentals are also from the band's most influential period - the Moogy moods and stark sequencer trance styles of the mid-1970s and the more organic sound journeys of their final years with Virgin in the early `80s. Obviously, assembling a greatest hits collection of Tangerine Dream's relentless, trance-inducing barrage of multi-minute rhythm and sound nuggets tunes is no easy task; their albums often contained only one extended song per side of vinyl and that dilemma is prominent on the first disc. With fully hour and a bit of the band's mystic, swirling and elongated soundscapes, it contains much from their early work with the label, including the title track from 1974's milestone release Phaedra and a three minute excerpt from the 17 minute Rubycon Part One from 1975's Rubycon, though the inclusion of the complete 20 minute sound journey Ricochet Part Two a cut from the live Ricochet is laudable. The second disc sacrifices the truncated for the overstated, offering up complete atmospheric orchestral slabs from 1980's Tangram, 1982's Logos, the hard-to-find Cloudburst Flight from 1979 and a taste of their soundtrack work (Beach Scene from 1981's Thief ). What you won't find is anything from 1978's Cyclone, their much-hated vocal debut or the multitude of snore-inducing soundtracks from stinker flicks like The Keep, Firestarter, Flashpoint or Vision Quest. That's a good thing, leaving untarnished the notion that their best works remain masterpieces of aural sculpture often imitated but never duplicated and more popular now - whether rave-goers know it or not - than ever before.

I purchased this great double cd in 1986 as a French import and have never tired of listning to it! Disc one containes my favorite - "The Dream Is Always the Same" and "Ricochet Part Two". Disc two gets even better with "Force Majeure", "Love on a Real Train" (from the movie RISKY BUSINESS)and the incredable "Logos Part One (A&B)" and "Logos Part Two" ( from the movie THE KEEP)! This double CD will make your system sound GREAT, or perhaps indicate what new equipment you might need! Buy and enjoy!

This Double CD set has been difficult to obtain a most music stores. It's a great intro to those unfamiliar with the powerful music of TD. Also great for longtime listeners (has most of my favorites). The CDs also come with a well-written booklet with a brief history of the band and the chronology of albums released. It's informative yet concise.